We all know you're an Oscar winner but you were also voted Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman alive - how do you feel about that?

THERON: I feel like the sexiest woman alive!

What does it mean to you?

THERON: I think everything in life has to be taken with giant heaps of salt. I think you have to, especially in this industry. Look, it's a great compliment. They could have said something much worse so I'm not jaded about that. It's really sweet but there is no such thing as the sexiest woman alive. So it's a compliment and really sweet that they thought that, but I don't walk around aiming to live up, by any means, to some standard that you just couldn't.

You were being followed by the baby outside and you play a mother in this movie, are you thinking about this in your real life?

THERON: I've always thought that... I knew that since I was a kid. I think I've always been very aware that I would be a mom one day but I don't feel in any way rushed, especially hearing that! [baby crying]

That's funny you would be hit on by a baby.

THERON: Oh no, I have a dog out there. Trust me, he was not following me! He was following the dog [laughs]. He was trying to get to my dog. And probably from him crying, I'm probably being sued right now. My dog is ancient, he won't hurt him.

You were a dancer - was that a good discipline for being an actress?

THERON: I think dance is a good discipline for anything you tackle in your life. Dance is one of those artistic things that you only succeed at if you have the mind, like a lot of sports. And I think having that at a really young age, having something nurture my mind in that sense of hard work and discipline, those are the only ways you excel at ballet and at sports and I think those are great things to have as a foundation at a very young age. And I'm very grateful and it helps me in everything in my life. Everything.

Is dance still your main workout?

THERON: It hasn't for years, no. It's funny, I always thought I'd still be dancing but then you retire and it's kind of - I go to the ballet and it's emotional, and years ago I spoke to a very famous retired tennis player and he said the same thing. I said, "Do people ask you the same thing? Do you just still kind of hit the ball around?" And I think when you do something at that intense of a level it's not - you can't just - you can, but there's something about not being able to lift your leg at 90 degrees anymore, or a tennis player who can't ace it every time or hit it down the line. So it's harder. I think your appreciation for it is always there and you go and watch it and you're a part of it, but it's not like, "Oh, I just want to do it for fun," because that's not where your head was before.

How do you stay in shape? How do you look so young and beautiful?

THERON: There's this pill that you take [laughs]. It's not a mystery. You have to be healthy and you have to work out and you have to eat good and you have to drink water and I don't necessarily do that every day. And I was a smoker for many years and I'm sure all of those things will one day show on my face. And I hope I can welcome them gracefully because, boy, it's been a great life.

Are you disciplined about working out?

THERON: Yeah, I have the ability to put my mind to something, and if I do that, I do it.

Is there anything you like doing?

THERON: I'm very much an outdoors person. I'm not a big fan of the gym. I like doing outdoor things. I wake up and I live life, I don't sit around.

Do you have any regrets in life?

THERON: I don't have any regrets. I'm sure I made many mistakes and I think we all do and that's what life is about and that's why I do the work that I do, because I believe in human beings as being conflicted and it's human nature. So I'm sure I made a lot of mistakes but I don't think you have to make mistakes and regret them. I think when you fall on your face in life, that's when you gain the most knowledge, and those are the moments you have to embrace.

You've had so much success when you've played down your looks. Do you divide the movies into those categories? It seems when you're playing down your looks they're the meatier roles as opposed to the blockbusters.

THERON: I think that's our society. I think film represents our society. I think those kinds of stories are about people who don't live in big cities and don't wear Couture. I don't understand - this physical aspect has become so overpowering in that I think people only pay attention to that. I would go and play what is considered the quintessential beautiful girl tomorrow - I did in this. If it's a good story, that's what it's about. I don't read a script and go, "Oh, I'm going to look like that? Yay! [laughs] Now I'm going to do it!" It's such a secondary thing.

Last time, you said you'd get married the day that same sex couples were able to get married. Does that still apply?

THERON: Yeah. I mean, like being a mother, I always saw that in my future. When I was a child I never saw - I never dreamt about getting married. It was just something that I didn't - my friends would cut out pictures of wedding dresses and things like that, I just never got that. And so it wasn't necessarily to cause some political statement but I do feel that - I just recently became an American citizen and I want to live in a country where everybody has equal rights. I don't want to live in a place where if you have the right love you get a certain privilege. It's not like I can't wait for that to happen because I can't wait for that to happen, because I can't wait to get married. I probably won't get married, but I just hope we can get to a place where that equal right is available for everybody. It makes me very sad that we think that's okay to somehow decide what love is good and what love isn't. I don't really want to live in a place like that. So the last thing I'm going to do is celebrate in a celebration through a church and a state that does that. I can't do that. I'd be a hypocrite.

Who are your favorite designers?

THERON: I have a lot of great - there's a lot of great artists out there designing, so I work with a lot of people. Obviously I have a great relationship with John Galliano at Dior and I've worked with their house for a long time. I think he's a genius. But I love Georgio Armani, and there's a lot of great, great designers. I love Stella McCartney... I've been doing this for quite a bit so I've had the privilege of getting to know a lot of them and working with them.

Are your earrings from a designer?

THERON: Yeah, but I don't know. They're from my closet.